Hacker News Reader

Comment by yakovdk | Hacker News Reader

This comes about because people can't get past the idea that art is a natural gift, whereas it is in most part a learnable skill. My thinking on this changed after watching the Great Course's "How to Draw" lectures [1]. Dr. Brody explains most people don't realize that with effort and practice they can learn to draw effectively; that it's not something you're born with.

If you accept that it can be decomposed into small skills, which can be practiced, and aggregated to create effective art, then it can be tested and graded.

[1] https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-draw.html

View on HN

Many people will say "I draw like a six-year old" but that's really because that's around the time when they stopped. Some people learn faster the skills faster than others but that's the same with math or science or any other skill.

The english alphabet is made up of 52 drawings that billions of people have learned. Everyone can draw them in some form because they practiced and it was required in school. Those same skills can be used in drawing anything. It's similar from being taught addition and then working your way up to calculus.

Having those skills doesn't necessarily produce great art but everyone can certainly learn how to draw or paint or sculpt. There's really no magic there.

When people say they can’t draw, they aren’t referring to being able to draw a simple geometric shape like a letter. They mean a portrait or a still life or landscape or something.

That's not what I'm saying. I understand they are saying they can't draw a portrait but what I'm saying is the only reason is because the skills usually weren't taught past a certain level. Those same geometric shapes are used in the construction of everything else.

It's the same skill, just a different degree of practice. Depending on your skill level drawing involves a lot of simple geometric shapes and then using those shapes as a point of reference to draw the final result. The reason why art seems so difficult is because people don't see the intermediate steps which were taken, they only see the final result.

a lot of artists and their fanbase think its a point of pride that they don't have formal education in art, as if they are a child prodigy

the customers they wish they could sell too would not consider that a point of pride

that prodigy should go to a prestigious art school, for the techniques or network alone

Reply on news.ycombinator.com